The Michaelian seeks to build upon the excellent recuperative work of late twentieth-century feminist and lesbian-feminist critics on Michael Field. The editors see studies of the Fields as entering an exciting new post-recovery era in which to consolidate and complicate our understanding of the works and the lives, of Victorian sexuality and the articulation of lesbian/queer desire. Further, the journal will seek to make an important contribution to debates surrounding literary and artistic identity and collaboration, and to enrich the field of Victorian Studies by considering how Bradley and Cooper interpreted and engaged with literary movements and important public debates.

This inaugural issue of The Michaelian includes essays by both established and emerging scholars in Victorian Studies. It is my fondest hope as editor of The Michaelian that this new interest is
not merely a literary 'fad' and that this journal will be instrumental in seriously positioning Field as important voices within Victorian literature.